Sweltering
by Kimmydonn
Summary: Angela and Bella escape the swelting heat, but find something even hotter. Entry for PTB's Hot Summer Nights Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

Thanks to PTB beta Dak and Multicoloredeyes for their help with this piece. Characteres are inspired by Stephenie Meyers' Twilight Saga

* * *

"Christ," Bella swore, pulling her shirt out from her chest. I did my best to ignore her and continue typing on the computer. "Seriously, Angela, we have _got_ to get out of this dorm room." I felt her finger on the back of my neck. "You've got a river running down your back; you know that, right?"

"Yes, and you could be competing in a wet T-shirt contest. I still have to finish this paper for tomorrow."

"I've watched you; you stay ahead on that stuff. What do you have left?" She flopped on the bed, fanning herself with a pad of paper.

"Proofreading."

"So print it and come with me! The Sound? The breeze? You know you're dying here as much as I am. I'm just not going to take responsibility for leaving you here to drown in your own sweat."

I rolled my eyes and looked at the screen again. It wasn't such a bad idea. I clicked the print button and rose.

"Fine, you win. Who's at the Sound?"

"What?" Bella blinked at me. I'd shared this tiny space with her for three weeks. That was still enough time to know that she didn't just wander down to the sound at night. Even a stinky hot September night like this one. "No one. It's just... nice outside." She pointed at the window to the sunset.

"Sunset," I breathed. "That means less hot, right?"

"Yes." Bella sounded like she was having impure thoughts. However, I was pretty sure, and my father would back me up, that coveting a cool night would not fall under that which belonged to your neighbor. Those tended to be shared publicly. "Let's go!" She grabbed my hand and tugged.

"Bella! I'm not wearing pants!" I complained pulling back.

"Please. Those shorts are perfectly decent."

"Fine, but we both look like we could compete in a wet t-shirt contest. Can I at least grab a different tank?"

She sighed. "Fine, but be fast." She crossed her arms over her breasts and tapped her foot.

I ripped off one shirt and yanked on another. I was easily as eager to be out of here. I grabbed my pages from the printer and my handbag, which always had a pen, pencil and highlighter. Hopefully I wouldn't need to fact check. I was _not_ lugging books.

"Yes!" Bella sighed as we exited the building. "I swear we are the last two left in here."

We couldn't run, but we didn't dawdle either. As soon as we made the beach, I parked my butt on a bench, pulling out my paper.

"What are you doing? Just spell check?" she asked grabbing a sheet.

"Yeah, spelling, grammar, logic. Does it read well?" I looked at her brown eyes scanning the page.

"Yes, it reads fine. Got a pen?" She took the red ball point from me and started making marks. I used the highlighter and blue pen on my pages.

"Are we done?" she asked trading pages with me.

I nodded. "I think so." I folded them in half and stuck them in my bag.

"Good." She grabbed my hand and pulled. "We're going in the water."

I laughed and followed but stopped short when she pulled off her top. She had no bra underneath.

"What are you waiting for, Angela? The water should be cool. And I for one need a rinse!" she yelled as she shucked her shorts and dove into the surf.

I looked up and down the beach, but this stretch was pretty deserted. The nearest lights were up on the boardwalk.

I pulled down my shorts and dropped them on top of her pile along with my bag. My tank followed, and I was heaving a sigh of my own as the cool water washed all the sweat of the day away.

"Isn't this great?" Bella asked grabbing my shoulders. "So cool. The only thing that would be better is a storm to break the God awful heat." She dove again splashing me. I chased after her in the gentle waves, giggling as we splashed one another, thrilled to feel ourselves returning to a normal temperature. Bella hopped onto my back at one point and blew a raspberry on my cheek.

She laughed loudly as I shuddered.

"You're cuddly," she proclaimed, wrapping herself around me tighter and tucking her head into my neck. She sighed. "I could sleep right here..."

I threw my weight backwards and she shrieked.

"Hey!" she protested, shaking water out of her eyes and hair, "not cuddly!"

I laughed and jumped on her this time, facing her, trying to push her under. She caught me though, and squeezed me in a hug.

"Thanks, Bella. This was a great idea." I rubbed my cheek on hers, and she giggled.

Just then, lightning flashed and I turned from her to see it. The forking was magnificent. "Wow," we murmured together. Of course, two minutes later cold water started pelting from the sky and we ran screaming for our abandoned clothes.

We raced down the boardwalk as the driving rain turned to hail, hoping for shelter. We found a gazebo that was crowded with others. We squeezed in alongside.

"Yes, look at that one," a girl shouted as she pointed. She leaned into a man that seemed to be her boyfriend. As I looked around, I saw nearly everyone under the roof was paired up. I looked at Bella and chuckled.

She shrugged and wrapped an arm around me. "We make as cute a couple as any of them." She smirked and then looked around. "Well, no, those guys are hot."

A pair of men were kissing far to our right. She was right, they were cute, and they way the looked in each others eyes was easily as intense as any of the heterosexual couples around us.

"Hot," I agreed before looking away. It wasn't good to stare. Also, I didn't need to get worked up when I shared a small room with Bella. She didn't need to listen to me trying to relieve tension.

I 'ooohed' with the others at another particularly pretty flash. Bella slid her arm down around my waist and put her head on my shoulder again. I was so tall that it rested there easily.

"I'm not kidding, Angel. You are cuddly." She squeezed me and rubbed her face in my shirt.

I laughed. "Yeah, make sure to spread the word, alright?" Neither Bella nor I had picked up a boyfriend through the various welcoming functions on campus. We'd met a bunch of nice guys but none suited me. Bella had had a couple dates, but apparently none had panned out enough to warrant a second.

She giggled and hugged me again. "Nu-uh, my roomie. Don't want to you sleeping over somewhere else."

I laughed loudly at that. "My father would die!"

"He'd never know, Angela. That's the best part about coming here. No parents, no one watching. We can be whoever we want. He taught you how to be a good person, but he didn't teach you who you are. That's inside you." She poked me lightly in the chest. "And I see you smothering it. Stop that. Let it out. Let it ALL OUT!" she shouted that last and was drowned by a clap of thunder. Several people cheered and hollered with her through the resounding boom.

"Holy crap!" someone shouted, pointing. The lightning had hit a tree nearby, hence the loud thunder, and it was on fire. "Someone call the fire department!"

Several people pulled out phones, but neither Bella nor I had brought one. We really only called each other. We watched the fire light the sky and shivered as the cold rain dried on our skin.

"I think the rain has let up," a man nearby said. He pulled his girlfriend out behind them and they chuckled as they walked away hand in hand.

"Shall we?" Bella asked, looking up from where she was still snuggled in my shirt.

"Yeah. I'm freezing."

We jogged back to our dorm room with the rain starting and stopping along the way. The smell of ozone floated everywhere as the lightning continued to light the sky on the horizon. Several other people were racing up the stairs, avoiding the rain, laughing with relief.

"Could this have come at a better time?"

"I thought I was going to melt."

"Ugh, it's still sticky hot in here! Open doors and windows!"

Shouts rang up and down the halls as Bella and I ducked into our room.

"S-should we leave it-t open?" I asked as she entered ahead of me. My teeth were chattering with cold. She peeled of her wet shirt in answer to my question. I closed the door quickly.

"No, but I'm going to open the window." She stood in just her shorts, wrenching on the sticky pane of glass. The room was muggy and hot, but the cold damp seemed to have sunk into me. It was like my skin was warm, but my bones were ice.

I was still a little uncomfortable about running around the room naked. Seeing each other less than dressed was unavoidable in the single room, but I was still a bit shy. On the other hand, I was freezing! I pulled off the wet shirt and shorts as my teeth chattered. I considered peeling off my panties too, but couldn't quite get the guts.

Bella noticed. "Oh, Ang, hop under the covers!" She pulled back the comforter on her own bed and I dove in, not thinking.

"S-Sorry, Bella. I'll m-move."

"Don't be silly, Angela." She rubbed my arms through the blankets. "I'd boil you water, but I'm still cooking. This room is awful." Bella put her hands to my cheeks. "You are cold. Shove over."

"W-what?" Bella slipped into the bed beside me. The tiny single mattress wasn't nearly big enough for both of us. She pulled my head onto her bare chest and lifted my still damp hair off my back. Then she ran her fingers in soothing lines up and down it.

"Relax, Angela." She shifted the blankets so her back was bared but I was doubled up. My legs scissored between hers and I slowly felt the ice inside my stomach melt.

"Thanks, Bella. I'm better now. I can go back to my bed."

She tightened her grip on my back and shoulder. "Cuddly," she argued.

"Yeah, right. We barely fit in this bed."

"I don't know. We seem to be fitting all right. Are you uncomfortable?" My head was half on her arm, half on her chest, our legs were tangled, but neither of mine seemed pinched.

"Are you sure your arm isn't going to fall asleep?" I asked.

She shifted me a little more onto her chest and nuzzled into my hair. "There, now it won't."

"Aren't you still warm?"

"Very," she whispered. Her lips moved on my head and her hand continued to stroke my back.

"Bella..." I was suddenly uncomfortable.

She must have sensed it because she let go immediately. "Yeah, okay, Angela."

"I'm sorry."

She shook her head and put her fingers in my hair when I didn't rise. "It's fine. I mean... Kinda snuck up on me. How good you smell. Even sweaty. God, you would think that would stink, wouldn't you? I know I stunk."

I chuckled. "No you didn't. You smelled like, you. And then you smelled like ocean and rain."

"God, wasn't that a good smell? So clean."

I hummed in agreement, inhaling her skin now. "Thanks again for making me go out."

"Thanks for coming with me." Bella kissed my forehead and I turned my face up to hers. She was flushed. She bit her lip and then turned her face down to mine. Her lips brushing mine gently.

I flinched. She sighed and pulled back again, returning to stroking my hair. "Sorry," she apologized.

I had flinched from shock. I really wasn't expecting my female roommate to kiss me. I mean, I knew things like that happened; I hadn't been shocked to see gay couples my first week on campus. Forks was such a small town though, that I'd never really thought about it in the same context as me. I'd never thought about kissing a girl.

I'd kissed boys. A few. And I found men attractive, I knew that. Still, I couldn't deny that I found some women attractive too. I appreciated the smoothness of Bella's skin, the way her hips and breasts rounded like mine, giving her an hourglass figure. The same dimensions, stretched over my larger frame, weren't as obvious.

I propped myself up and kissed her again, curious now.

She smiled at me. "You don't have to," she said with a little chuckle.

"I know. I... I want to know."

"So do I," she answered, pressing her lips to mine again.

I had only been french kissed once, and it had been terrible. I had just about written off the whole thing. His tongue had been rough and he had poked it in my mouth like the doctor asking me to say 'ah.' And the spit... Yuck. I tried not to remember too clearly, because Bella's kiss was nothing like that. Her tongue touched my lips, but didn't press them. When I opened my mouth she still closed her lips over mine, keeping the pecks gentle and sweet. Her tongue would dart, touching my teeth and backing away. I tried to emulate her, letting my tongue touch hers.

She sighed and laid back on the pillow. "Wow."

"Wow?" I asked. I knew it was the best kiss I'd ever had, but I was under the impression Bella was more experienced than I was.

"Yeah, Jimmy Johnson has nothing on you."

I giggled. "That was your last boyfriend?"

"Yep. I've had good night kisses, but the last make-out session was at the after-grad party. I almost didn't go. You've seen how social I am." I nodded. Neither of us were really extroverts. There should be a check box for that on the registration forms so we wouldn't get roomed together. Bella and I would sit and read most night. Back home, Jessica would have drug me out at some point, but Bella and I were both happy to share quiet company. This was actually the first time she'd suggested going out.

"Yeah. Jimmy..." She shuddered. "He tried to feel me up. I didn't like it."

I laughed and ran my hand over her ribcage.

"Yeah. Weird, eh? Can I try something?" she asked.

I tensed a little. "Only if you tell me what."

She laughed. "There's this place he kissed. I want to know if it was just me or..." She turned her head to kiss just beneath my ear. I gasped. That wasn't somewhere anyone had kissed me before. My legs tightened on hers and that felt good too.

"Angela?" she whispered, her lips brushing my ear.

I shivered. "Yes, Bella?"

"I think I like this." She ran her hands down my back again, resting them in the hollow at the base of my spine.

I pressed my body to hers as I kissed her again. "I like it, too." I kicked my leg, knocking the comforter to the floor.

Bella's mouth found other places that liked to be kissed. I was able to find spots that no one had touched her either. Who knew how nice it was to have someone simply trace the back of your thigh, or the spot just under the shoulder blade? Maybe lots of other people, but not me or Bella. She particularly liked when I pressed my tongue to her neck. She complained about me leaving marks until I showed her I wasn't sucking. She proceeded to try the same on my neck, my ribs, my belly. My back ended up being the most sensitive and she curled up behind me, kissing slowly down my spine, making me arch into her hands.

We spent the night tossing in that tiny bed, nearly falling out several times, before sleep beat out experimentation and we curled as we had started, my head on her chest, our legs scissored together.

"I love you, Angela," she whispered. "I'm so glad I met you."

"I love you, too, Bella." I squeezed her in a hug and closed my eyes.


	2. Big News! I'm Published!

Let me start by saying I'm only go to do this once. I promise.

Next, if you noticed a lot of chapter alerts with the same title, that's because they're all the same, skip/delete the others.

Finally, I wanted to give this big news to as many people as I could, which is the only reason I'm doing this (see first point)

Okay! The good news! I'm published!

That's right! If you've enjoyed my stories, which I bet you have as you've put me on alert, now is your chance to read a completely original story written by yours truly.

Cargon: Honour & Privilege is my first novel, but I already have two more complete manuscripts, so a second isn't far off. It is set on a future earth after a cataclysmic even has destroyed nearly all of our technology. It is the time of the second renaissance. The story revolves around Eve, a servant in a caste-style society who has the nerve and the guile to step out of her set role and take on a new and much loftier one.

Here's the back blurb:

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Lives are won, lost and traded on the three-tiered Cargon boards.

Eve, a serving-girl, has watched the elite from the outside, seen the dramatic shifts based on the results of the Game. With a growing need to reach beyond her station, she can no longer accept her position on the edges.

Wagering her own life, she wins and emerges in a strange new world. New rules and old acquaintances tangle to make Eve's life less comfortable than her position would suggest.

One pawn moved, but an entire world shaken – Eve will change the world.

* * *

Copies are available at Amazon (kindle and paper versions) and signed copies, as well as information about up-coming book, blog posts from me, tour dates as I book them, are all be available on my website: Kimmydonn. com

I'm so excited about this, my first release. I've had a bit of a stumble out of the gate and that's gotten me down, but I'm hoping some of you will perk me back up, possibly with sales, but even with just reviews/PMs of congrats. I'll appreciate all of them.

I thought I'd finish by including an excerpt from the book. After demonstrating her wit to the High One, Eve was moved into classes with elite. She is still a servant, still apart from them, but in their realm. (Excuse the formatting, I pulled this from my final PDF copy ;)

* * *

Awaking early from the nightmare, she entered the classroom  
an hour before the elite students. Even so, the Ernst was there  
ahead of her. "If a rock is placed in the sea, does the rock become  
wet or does the sea become rocky?"

Eve smiled, but didn't raise her eyes. This was exactly the sort  
of question he would ask his class. "Both. The rock joins those on  
the bottom, making the sea rocky. As well, the rock, having space  
within, takes in water, becoming wet."

The Ernst smiled at her. "And, if the rock were not porous?"

"Then only the sea would become rocky, as the rock would  
retain no water upon removal. Nor, if the rock were the only one in  
the sea could the sea be said to be rocky either. Was this the only  
rock in the sea?" Only after she asked did she realize she was  
looking up at the Ernst.

His milky blue eyes shone. "You are a fine student. Take your  
place," he sighed. Eve heard the students approaching. Today, the  
Ernst quizzed his students on the nature of time and its flow. Was  
it even, like water poured from a pitcher, or variable like the wind?  
Eve imagined it was choppy like water in a stream. It generally  
flowed in one direction, but it was possible to be thrown back, with  
memory and dream, to an earlier time, only to be rushed forward  
again. She made plans to write this after class was complete.

Prince Louis came to her as he had so many times before. He  
was significantly older than his classmates, making Eve wonder  
why he was still here. His hand came to rest over her breasts,  
where she had pinned the bloom today.

"That bloom will never fade. I think his attention is not so  
constant. But mine is, as you can see." Eve set her teeth at that. She  
taunted him, but did not seek his affections. Prince Louis put his  
nose to her hair now, inhaling deeply. He sighed. "Would you taste  
as wonderful as you smell, I wonder?" His hand traced down her  
side, just off her skin. It brushed the fabric of her skirt, and she  
stepped to the side. It was not strictly permitted, but neither was  
his touch.

He sidestepped with her, grinning now. "Skittish. I like that.  
Where will you jump to next?" He moved to place his hand on her  
chest again, and she leaned away to her left, twisting from him.  
Her skirts brushed his legs. That wasn't permitted either. She  
backed away again.

He continued to pursue her as she backed herself into the  
corner. He put his hands to either side of her head, trapping her  
effectively. Finally, unable to find another response, she turned her  
eyes level to his. In them she held all of her hatred, her anger, his  
loss of honour. Would he continue to ignore the impropriety he  
was inflicting? Would he simply accept the slight she had  
delivered by staring him down?

He seemed to, showing no offence and instead dipping his  
nose to her bloom. He was nearly touching her breasts. She tried  
not to breathe while he inhaled deeply. "Smells wonderful, but I  
think that's not the bloom. I do wish our stations were not so  
distant." He pulled his arms away and turned from her.

It had been over a year since the first time he had approached  
her, but for the second time she fell to the floor in relief. She had  
nearly spat on him! He would have had her beaten severely for  
that. She sniffled, and only then realized tears streamed her face.  
She pulled a kerchief and wiped them away before rising. She took  
one more deep breath and strode to her lunch with what time  
remained.

* * *

If you'd like to read a larger sample, there are a few chapters available on Google Books. Thanks so much for reading!


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